SAFA Skysailor Magazine

26 SKY SAILOR March | April 2023 Australian paraglider’s toughest adventure yet “My biggest challenge is sleep deprivation. I love my regular eight hours of sleep, but the moving time for this 12-day event is 5am to 11pm so it doesn’t leave much time to recharge the mind and body,” he explained. “I feel I am better off being slightly under-pre- pared for an event of this magnitude, than overdoing it and turning up at the starting line injured. I listen to my body and believe rest is just as important as pushing it. My main goal is to have fun, make friends and have new experiences. Everything else is a bonus.” Rich sees the Red Bull X-Alps as the pinnacle of his paragliding and fitness training, but it’s ‘not his first rodeo’. With more than 1500 hours of airtime, 98% of which have been in thermic conditions, he has been paragliding for 10 years and rock climbing for 17 years. The list of his top five achievements include: • • First to paraglide over the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia • • Competing in the X-Pyr 2022 • • Soaring the remote Indian cliffs of Deo Tibba (6001m) and Indrasan (6221m), India • • His first Vol Biv (Hike & Fly) experience in Bir, India • • Flying from his home launch in Bright, Victoria, cross-country to a point where he could see the ocean. Photos: Above © zooom Lukas Pilz Left: Richard training for the X-Alps Photos: Richard Binstead